whast the best car wash soap to use? also how do you guys wash ur car towels? no clorox right?

 

Car Wash Concentrates:
A good quality car wash (Zaino Z7 or Groit’s Car Wash) provides a slightly alkaline pH-7.1 and balanced blend of active biodegradable ingredients, to provide lubrication to prevent scratching, to lift and encapsulate dirt, road grime and oils.
Water quality (pH value, mineral content, harness, etc) and other characteristics will affect how well a car wash concentrate works.

As well as conditioners to maintain the shine without stripping the paint of essential oils (the way detergents do) and dispersing them in the rinsing process, warm water (not hot) will improve the cleaning abilities of wash concentrates.

The amount of foaming produced has nothing to do with its cleaning efficiency, when laundry was done with soap flakes; suds level was an indicator of cleaning performance. Many people still equate a good rich level of suds with cleaning; however, this is no longer true.

Today's quality car wash concentrates are formulated with anionic surfactants that have a very low suds level without affecting cleaning performance. One of the advantages of this formulation is that road dirt and grime are encapsulated in its structure (micelles), which makes for very easy and efficient rinsing.

Harsh detergents found in some car wash soaps contain sodium silicate or sodium hydroxide may etch the surface of the clear-coat leaving white residue or dulling the entire finish. Car wash concentrates that contain a high foaming (suds) agent are actually corrosive, as sodium (salt) is used as an agent to create the foaming. The usual dilution is l oz per two gallons water (using a lesser dilution will leave a film on the paint surface) Avoid products that contain harsh detergents as they will emulsify and leach out any oils or waxes that provide protection and/or flexibility (See also pH Values)

Washing Directions- Use hot (120oF<) water and add 1-2 ounces of liquid laundry detergent (Woolite) to a standard size (8 gallon) load, for larger loads or heavily soiled laundry, add 3-6 ounces. As a pre-spotter: dilute 1 part concentrates with 3 parts water, apply to stain and launder as usual.

Do not use fabric softener (most contain silicone that the towel will adsorb and it will cause smearing of the paint surface thereby reducing their effectiveness) towel will also treat the fabric softener as if it was dirt by trying to store the tiny particles of the softener in the towel fibres. This will clog up the micro fibres and render the towel ineffective.

Add a teaspoon per towel distilled white vinegar in place of a softener, the vinegar doesn't coat the fibres but instead works to eliminate detergent residue. Vinegar (Acetic acid, pH=2) works well in the rinse cycle to make your towels softer. Detergent is an alkaline (pH=12, the opposite of acidic on the pH scale).

Wash new towels twice to eliminate shedding (lint)
Air dry or you can dry micro fibre cloths / towels in any dryer on low heat, drying on high heat will make them hold a static charge, remove them before they are still damp (cuts down on static charge) Colours may bleed during first washing.

 

For car wash soap, I like to use Meguiars Gold Class... cheap & effective at $10 a gallon.

For washing towels:
Cotton towels I just put in the washing machine and use normal laundry powder.
Microfiber towels need to be hand washed.

 

Meguiar's NXT or Zaino used here.
Use only high quality MicroFiber and 100% cotton towels with seams/tags removed. If you use MF towels for wheels like I do. Always wash last and use separately. Never use on exterior. I always separate and use certain towels for certain areas.
No fabric softner or bleach. Warm water,delicate and low to no heat for drying. May sound like a PITA or **** buts save a lot of work in the long run and cuts way down on spiderwebbing and scratching.